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Any suggestions on where to find some panfish. Haven't fished it all winter. Inlaws live on 1st lake. Thanks

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  • tunrevir

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Find water in the 15-20' range on first lake or hit any of the deeer holes on second and third lakes. Deeper holes will put out crappies all day but you'll have to sort. Crappies on first tend to be a bit finicky before dark not so much so on the other two basins.

Tunrevir~

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  • 2 weeks later...

I saw some open water on first lake last night, any guesses for when the ice will go out. I will guess April 1st.

I forgot to write down the date the ice came on Forest last fall, I have been keeping track for a few years. Do you know the date that was last year?

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Yes, after all this dang "cold" we are getting, it looks like ice out may be a little further away than we thought.

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I saw a couple of people ice fishing in the middle of 3 yesterday. crazy

I would guess that we are still a couple weeks away.

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I think one of those predictions will be right, Forest is looking like a good wind will take care of it.

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Does any one know where a good starting point for crappies once the ice is gone? depths, structures, anything would help, didnt get any decent crappies on the ice so i am going after them with vengence now! Thanks

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Right after ice out you will still be able to find them in the deeper holes where they were located during last ice. Later as the water starts to warm a bit look to the edges of the weedlines and milfoil beds. The darker bottoms in these areas tend to warm the water faster and the crappies will hnag in these areas. For the larger fish work fatheads under a slip bobber, for numbers I like a small jig tipped with a waxie set at 2-4 feet under a slip bobber. I like to use small countdown raps as a search lure as well and you have the oppurtunity for some real pigs with this technique. Smallest countdown you can find worked with a slow retrieve and an occassional twitch. If you really want to have fun hit the lake on a glass calm evening and chase the surfacing fish, it is a hoot! You'll see huge schools of crappies.

Tunrevir~

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Whats the definition of ice out? If its a boat can go out then the lake by the freeway is now. Saw a guy out Friday at around 5:30.

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If its a boat can go out then the lake by the freeway is now.

Huh? whistle

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Originally Posted By: soma
If its a boat can go out then the lake by the freeway is now.

Huh? whistle

You know....Its if a freeway can out boat the lake and by then its now! Duhhhhhh!!!! laugh

Wait a minute....how many have I had?? That made sense a minute ago... grin

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  • 4 weeks later...

Heading out to flake tomorrow for the opener. anyone got any ideas on where to find the walleyes this time of year. We used to have a lot of luck on opener over on third but the last few things have been slow. any info would be great and good luck to all! hoopefully the weather and fish cooperate.

Nick

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I'd first try the shallow weed edges in the a.m. and work the newly emerging milfoil beds in the 4-6 foot range. Countdown raps and #5shadraps. Pull leeches on a phelps floater and an 18-20 inch lead with a 1/16th-1/8th oz sinker through the sandgrass. Work shallow quietly and cast your presentation and pull it along with your trolling motor. Fatheads and shiners will work well this time of year as well. If the shallow water bite doesn't put you on some fish then head to the 12-15' range and work that area the same way and finally if that doesn't work then work the deeper edges of the deeper holes. The best bite fo me has always happened in the 7-9 a.m. range and then again towards dark. If the weather holds the shallow bite might be tough and then I'd head to the deeper side of the weedlines in the 12-15' range. The downside to the shallow bite is the fish are spread out and if you get another boat mowing through it might wreck the bite for you. If you ind a promising spot where you catch fish then work the area thoroughly with a leech or minnow. Some years they prefer leeches, some shiners. If they are hitting shiners then fancasting the shallows with a countdown or #5shadrap can work well. If you decide to go deep then it would be a vertical jigging bite with shiners , fatheads or leeches or a slow pull with lindy's. With the weather the way it is I think the shallow bite might be off right now but it never hurts to try it. Good luck!

Tunrevir~

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Nice post! It is one of the best examples of one sportsman helping another. This is what I like about this site. I myself have been trying to find a lake to try, but have absolutely no idea where to begin around my area. This is my first opener in 3 years(just moved back from Las Vegas), and my first in this area. Now if I could just find some walleyes from shore..!

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thanks for all the info, unfortunatly I didn't get the chance to try it all as i was hoping. with 4 in the boat it is difficult. we fished many of the humps and holes on third from 13-35ft with no luck. pullin lindy's and floaters. Did not see another fish caught. any one else have any luck? on the bright side of thing the crappies are in the channel infront of my house so I caught about thirty of those. mainly small, biggest 10.5". Might try tomorrow morning throwing some shad raps.

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Last spring and summer was pretty good for the walleye on Forest but the fall and winter was not so hot for me. It almost seems like the walleye population is down right now. It can be tough to find them. Not sure how the stocking schedule is going for Forest but from the DNR stats it's been a few years since they've stocked. Are the stats just behind on what's actually taking place?

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tried green tonight. lots of small ones with only two big enough to keep with 5 of us bobber fishing from a pontoon. lots of action between the crappies and 12" walleyes though!

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We tried Martin from shore yesterday. No bites. A few guys were trolling around the area though and missed a few. The spot we hit was SUPER shallow, so that may have been our demise.

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Went out for a bit on Forest Today. It was pretty slow, but I boated one walleye. I almost boated some other monster that hit a fathead spinner rig on the bottom of a saddle, but it just kept running as my drag was screaming. I fought it for a while, but didn't get it within view. I must have been a muskie or a really big pike the way it fought.

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Sounds like a sturgeon. There are a few left in in the lake that are quite large and every so often one gets caught or is found dead and floating. That would have been quite a catch for Flake! Good job on the walleye.

Tunrevir~

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Thanks Tunrevir! Now that you mention the lake sturgeon in there, I think you might be right. Didn't someone hit a 50+ inch one in there last year?

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seriously? there are stergeon in forest lake? I have never heard that before! that would of caught me way off gaurd if i would of been in a boat that brought one of them up without ever hearing about this!

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Yep, there are sturgeon, remnants from years ago when the Sunrise river meandered through all of the area lakes before being dammed up. Comfort has some, Forest has some, the Chisago chain has some. There was a 50 inch fish off Forest last year and there was a report of a large Sturgeon that was revived on one of the Chisago lakes by a dnr officer last year. You never know what you might pull up when fishing around here.

Tunrevir~

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Wow, thats awsome! i asked the guys at bait on 8 and they kinda laughed and said not that they knew of. i went out tonight and caught two decent bass, a 18 inch muskie and a nice 10.5 crappie! no walleye though, heard a few hooray's,yahoo's and a woopie from other boats around me but that was it, i'll probably go out in the morning, see if they like breakfast better than dinner! thanks for all the helpful info!

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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